I KNOW FOR A FACT I don’t wake up with a flawless face. In fact, it’s probably my worst face. I’m all swollen, dry, and darn near confused about my whereabouts when I wake up. It’s not my finest hour – literally (sorry future Bae)…but I do love singing that hook “I woke up like dis.” Not because I shimmer in dawn’s light every morning, but because there are certain characteristics and attitudes I’ve had to learn to wake up with that my physical features played no role in.

I’m sure that most of the girls and women who listen to the song immediately identify with the superficial aspect of it like it was intended. Let’s face it, looking good on the outside, is the easy part. It’s the assertiveness, independence and confidence that are woven into the song’s mantra…that becomes the hard part.

How often have you had your Makeup so precise it looked like you were photoshopped? Or had the most amazing hair day…just to be crushed by a negative comment or a petty argument with your boo? How many times have you lost a battle with your low self-esteem WHILE wearing a full face? Your looks will ultimately not stop the way you let people’s opinions of you impact your day. Your looks will not remove childhood insecurities and body-image issues. Your looks will not protect you from self-doubt. If one looks only to their physical appearance as the means to measure themselves, they are sure to fall short on a daily basis.

Man…I’ve seen so many “pretty” girls fall;

I’ve seen so many mascara smudges on cheeks and broken souls walking in high heels all to maintain the illusion of “I’ve got it all together.” That hurts to see and even worse, to experience. No matter how many times I got the wings of my eyeliner perfect, I couldn’t understand why I never felt like I was “enough.” I never felt like I was enough for this person or enough for that opportunity. My shape, my hair, my clothes, none of it could fill that void I felt and it took me the longest to come to grips with the fact that makeup can be waterproof, but it could never be “Rhema” proof. It could never be life proof, or pain proof. If it could proof all of those things, we wouldn’t have stained faces.

That frustration I dealt with internally was so heavy. If you are anything like I was, then you know the feeling. You know that pressure to look like everything and everyone but your actual self. That feeling of dissatisfaction is so incredibly draining.

We can’t keep going like this. We’ll destroy ourselves thinking we can slap on foundation and suddenly become a different person that we truly aren’t inside. Our looks are never going to be reliable sources to depend on when it comes to our level of self-esteem and confidence. They change too much and they’re so easy to wash away. Who we are internally and in the rawest form is something we can never get away from. Why not grow and build up the one person who is always going to be there…? You.

When the makeup is gone, what are we left with? That’s what will forever truly matter in living the single life, in maintaining relationships, friendships, jobs…everything. So the next time you sing “I woke up like this” ask yourself…what mindset is behind that assertion? Is it to pacify yourself into believing that your outward appearance will be your defining characteristic for the day? …or is it that you woke up knowing you’re filled with possibilities, confidence, authority and consistency in your life that no makeup brush or lipstick shade will ever be able to sustain?

Ask yourself this question. If you woke up and had to run out of the house with a bear face, sloppy bun, little to no lip gloss and some gray sweats, would you leave out just as confident and comfortable with yourself as you would had you been wearing a full face and heels?